HUGE Drop Off In Reported UFO Sightings...What's The Reason?

An article published by Business Insider on August 1, 2018 mentions that since 1990, UFO sightings steadily increased until reaching a peak of 8,670
reports in 2014. Since then, there has been a huge slump in the number of UFO reports in the US. Peter Davenport, the founder of NUFORC, states that
UFO investigators are perplexed on why this has happened.

Davenport believes that perhaps the US government have been electronically intercepting reports to UFO organisations, but concedes that this would be
an imprudent decision for the US government to make. Alex Griffioen, from the UFO Disclosure Office in the Netherlands, hasn't noticed a big decline
in the number of UFO reports in the Netherlands. He believes that the decline seen in the US might be attributed to the increasing use of drones and
UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) by the military.

"The significant decrease in the number of reports has baffled everyone investigating within the UFO field," founder and director of NUFORC
Peter Davenport said to Business Insider. He's previously discussed the decline with members of the Mutual UFO Network. "They see the same trend and
they're all confused by it."

...according to Griffioen: "Drones are becoming cheaper and more popular, and are taking on stranger and stranger shapes every day. This
applies to both military UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles), professional drones for video as well as for recreational drones."

The chance of encountering a drone has grown considerably, which could account for people identifying what previously would have been
considered a UFO as a drone.

Drone use in the United States has increased over the years, especially when the FAA relaxed its guidelines concerning the purchase and operation of
recreational drones. If a drone weighs less than 8.8 ounces (250g) it does not need to be registered. "Recreational pilots" in the US, who purchase a
drone weighing more than 250 grams, "are required to spend $5 to register with the FAA before flying outdoors." Commercial drones that are heavier
than 55 lbs. have their own set of registration requirements that need to be followed. These regulations haven't deterred consumers from purchasing
these high tech aerial craft, which are becoming more technically advanced each year.

Mandatory drone registration for recreational pilots was a requirement, and then there was a court challenge and it wasn't. Now, after another
round of legal proceedings, recreational pilots in the US are required to spend $5 to register with the FAA before flying outdoors.

Conversely, you can't register a drone that's heavier than 55 pounds via the online portal. That's inconsequential for consumers as nothing
out there is that heavy, but if you're working with an industrial aircraft you'll need to submit a paper registration application.

As you can see by the sales projections, drones are here to stay and they are often mistaken for UFOs. However, many people will dismiss a potential
UFO sighting and fail to report it, because they feel that it's a man made aerial craft. You wouldn't think that if you are a regular YouTube
viewer, where hundreds of supposed "UFOs" are filmed and then published each day. You name it, you'll probably see it on YouTube...CGI hoaxes and
misidentified aerial anomalies. Lets go through a list of some these.

(1) DRONES

Drones are often mistaken for UFOs because they move fast, they can perform amazing maneuvers and some come with installed LED lights.

Here are some examples of drones flying at night, which many people misidentify as UFOs:

(2) Parachutes/Skydivers/Drones With Magnesium Flares:

I have seen many YouTube videos published by people who mistakenly film parachutes, skydivers, or drones with flares attached, thinking they are
UFOs.

Here are some examples of parachutes, skydivers and drones with magnesium flares attached to them:

(3) Chinese Lanterns

There are also many video clips on YouTube showing slowly moving "orbs" in the sky that are nothing more than Chinese lanterns.

Another object that is often mistaken for a UFO, is an ordinary mylar helium balloon. The hovering "humanoid" videos often make me laugh out loud.

Here are some examples of helium balloons that are mistaken for "plasma" anomalies or an "alien humanoid."

(5) Rocket Launches

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is getting a lot of use recently. The fact that it's a "fully reusable heavy lift launch vehicle" helps with keeping costs
down. It has launched a satellite into orbit (an Argentinian satellite) and just recently won a new launch contract for the Swedish telecommunications
company, Ovzon. People have filmed previous launches, not knowing what they were seeing. Amazon's CEO, Jeff Bezos, is investing a billion dollars a
year to kick start a plan to send people to space with his private space travel firm, Blue Origin. Billionaire, Richard Branson has his own space
company, Virgin Galactic, which will also be used to send people into space.

As commercial rocket launches continue to increase, more and more people will be filming strange "spiral shaped" anomalies in the night sky.

Here are some video clips of these rocket launches that people have published on YouTube:

[yvid]tixx561AnYA[yvid]

(6) Misidentified Satellites, Space Debris And Planes

With more rocket launches putting satellites into orbit, you will also increase the amount of space debris that's in Earths' orbit. You probably have
already seen this debris in videos posted on YouTube, from people using their high tech night vision systems. They may think they're "UFOs," but we
know they're just satellites, space debris and the occassional bird or bat flying in the night sky.

It's 2018 and you would think that people can figure out that most moving lights seen in the sky at dusk or at night, are nothing but planes coming in
to land. Then again, you're not going to get "hits" filming planes landing at night. People even have a hard time identifying a plane flying at high
altitude, producing its own contrail.

Airships are making a comeback. They are getting larger and more advanced in order to carry huge cargo payloads, as well as passengers. Normal
looking blimps that are used for surveillance and advertising, are still being misidentified as UFOs. Can you imagine what will happen when these
huge, uniquely designed airships are flying around in our skies? Yep, more mistaken UFO sightings that will be filmed and put on YouTube.

Worldwide Aeros’s Aeroscraft cargo-carrying airship could change the way transport logistics have traditionally been done with airplanes,
trains, ships, trucks and other vehicles. According to Worldwide Aeros (Hall 6 B30) CEO and chief engineer Igor Pasternak, two versions of the
Aeroscraft will be available, one offering a 66-ton payload and a larger version with a 250-ton payload. The U.S Department of Defense (DOD) has
invested more than $60 million in the Aeroscraft airship over the past seven years. The company will build an initial fleet of 24 airships, the
majority of which will be higher-capacity models. The first vehicle will be operational in about three years, with all 24 airships in service by 2021,
he said.

The world's largest aircraft uses innovative technology to combine the best characteristics of fixed wing aircraft and helicopters with
lighter-than-air technology to create a new breed of hyper-efficient aircraft. It can stay airborne for up to five days at a time. It will fulfil a
wide range of communication, cargo carrying and survey roles in both the military and commercial sectors all with a significantly lower carbon
footprint than other forms of air transport.

Wow hell of an OP! Personally I know that thanks to technology these days I’m far less likely to misidentify objects in the sky between sat and
flight tracking apps along with nightsky apps to verify something isn’t a celestial body. I have a folder on my phone where I keep all of my apps
for checking the basics of whatever I might see. That may not be the case for everyone but it’s certainly much easier for laypeople to eliminate the
usual suspects quickly and easily on the fly with apps that are free or near to it.

I think people dont care anymore,When you hear wolf here wolf there and all you see is nothing or just grainy photos thats what happens.The only thing
that keeps ufology going is the idea that the goverment knows and is hiding stuff when in reality they are as perplexed as we are.

After 70 years of modern ufology what is there to produce,evidence wise,apart from grainy photos and lately cgi videos?Not to mention the bickering
amongst the various ufo organizations.

The truth is ufolofy now is a circus of lectures and book selling,modern snake oil sellers

Looks like it began in the lead up to the 2016 election when everyone became hyperfocused on decidedly more Earthly matters...

EDIT-
The reasons you listed would seem to INCREASE "reported" sightings...one would think. But you say there has been a decrease in reports even though
there is an increase in "strange" or unfamiliar objects in the skies.

I think that gives my theory a bit of creedence. Things are flying around like never before in our known history and people are too busy, esp in USA,
looking down to their smart phones to engage in politics.

Of course I do see the point they are making which is that people used to report things they saw whereas now they may just assume it was just a drone
but I dont think drones are owned by enough people yet that they are becoming familiar with their presence.

It could partly be that people are just realizing that a video of lights in the dark moving around can only be exciting so many times. It could be a
very good sign... a sign that because of the internet, even casually interested people are becoming more educated on the matter and are no longer
freaking out about every little thing anymore. *shrug*

Looks like it began in the lead up to the 2016 election when everyone became hyperfocused on decidedly more Earthly matters...

EDIT-
The reasons you listed would seem to INCREASE "reported" sightings...one would think. But you say there has been a decrease in reports even though
there is an increase in "strange" or unfamiliar objects in the skies.

I think that gives my theory a bit of creedence. Things are flying around like never before in our known history and people are too busy, esp in USA,
looking down to their smart phones to engage in politics.

In fairness it could cut either way, it could be that people know that drones are becoming so prolific thus causing them to brush anything of as most
likely just a drone.

I feel, myself included, that the general public is much more skeptical and less gullible than they used to be. The proliferation of high quality
cameras everywhere and a much better awareness of what's actually in our skies is a contributing factor as well.

In 2016, one of Hillary's last ditch efforts was telling people that if she wins, she'll release all the secrets the government has been holding back
about UFOs and space aliens. Then I read on here that after seeing more and more sightings, the government was starting to let it fly because aliens
were planning on revealing themselves in 2019, or something to that effect.

I'd guess a lot of that upward trend has to do with the fact our reporting and recording methods have gotten better, as well as an increase in a lot
of the technology listed by the OP. If you accounted for that I suspected the line would be a lot flatter, but I think you'd still see a drop off
starting around 2014. I've noticed it just browsing ATS for many years, the numbers of reports is far lower in recent times compared to when I first
joined ATS, there was a lot more weird stuff happening in the UFO realm on a more consistent basis.

If we were to look at this downward trend with respect to the time traveler theory it may make some sense. Imagine you're a time traveler from the
year 2050, would you be more likely to go back to visit the year 2000 or the year 2020? Chances are a lot of the technology from 2050 isn't vastly
different from 2020 so it would be less interesting to visit 2020. Also, as time goes on a lot of the geniuses who developed widely used technology
are dying, for example Steve Jobs announced the iPhone in 2007.

During the 2000's we saw the formations of YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and most of the internet. Of course the 90's also hold a lot of important
moments in our history, we discovered the universe was expanding and created a thing called dark energy to explain it, video games exploded in
popularity, many iconic shows and movies were created such as The Matrix. I know if I were a time traveler the decades surrounding the year 2000 would
be very attractive to me. It may sound dumb but it makes some sense.

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